Lokavibhaga

The Lokavibhāga (literally "division of the universe") is a 5th-century Sanskrit text by Rishi Simhasuri. Its manuscript was first discovered in an Indian temple of Karnataka by M.R.R. Narasimhachar. The Lokavibhaga consists of 11 chapters and a total of 1737 verses (shlokas) distributed over these chapters. The text has an incomplete colophon, which states it was completed in a village named Patalika near Kanchi (Tamil Nadu) in the 22nd year of Simhavarman's rule in Banarastra. The colophon includes astronomical observations along with a samvat date and year which together confirm the text was published by Rishi Simhasuri on 25 August 458 CE.

The Lokavibhaga is notable as the oldest known text in the world that clearly uses three principles of positional decimal arithmetic system together – graphical signs and terms as numerals, assigning a value to the same numeral depending on the position it occupies in a number, and the use of fully operational zero. This Indian system contrasted with competing ancient arithmetic systems developed independently in Babylon, ancient Rome and China.